We pride ourselves on having the friendliest
and most welcoming forums for moms and moms to be! Please take a moment
and register
for free so you can be a part of our growing community of mothers.
If you have any problems registering please drop an email to boards@justmommies.com.

Our community is moderated by our moderation team so you won't see spam or offensive messages posted on our forums. Each of our message boards is hosted by JustMommies hosts, whose names are listed at the top each board. We hope you find our message boards friendly, helpful, and fun to be on!

My allergies have been acting up since the weekend and today has been the worst day yet. So I asked Dr. Google about allergy medicine for pregnant ladies and many different things came up. The most common was Benadryl (and Allegra came in a close second), as well as prescription drugs.

So I went to the pharmacy and started looking around. Found the most basic Benadryl Allergy pills and read what it said. It says to consult your doctor. So I called my doctor and the girl at reception first said that I should ask the pharmacist and just do whatever they say, but that she will also ask the doctor and call me back.

I asked the pharmacist about it, she pulls out this massive text book about drugs during pregnancy and Benadryl came out better than something like Claritin. All she said was that it'll make me drowsy, that it's a Category B drug with no known side effects after being tested on some human and animals. So I bought it, took a pill, feel way better.

Got home and the girl from reception at my doctors tells me that I'm NOT allowed anything....

I didn't tell her I already took something, she didn't know the "why nots" so I didn't bother getting into it with her.

So basically she tells me to ask the pharmacist, who concurs with Dr Google, and then my doctor says there's nothing I can take....

What would you do? Would you stop taking it on your doctor's suggestion (whom I hadn't even spoken to, just got a message through a secretary)? Or would you continue with it?

I think it is strange how all doctors vary on these things. I'm big not taking ANYTHING, even category B unless its really necessary....I apparently like to suffer. My Dr. will try to convince me to take something! Benadryl and Clortrimiton (sp?) are both on my list from my Dr. for allergy/cold.

I have asthma and allergies. The problem w/me not taking allergy medicine when its bad is that I can have an asthma attack...putting the baby at greater risk and of course requiring MORE medication that is LESS safe for the baby than the allergy medicine.

I've taken Benadryl probably over half of this pregnancy. Dr is fine with it. I also have taken, on occasion, Zyrtec. Doctor said both are fine. I don't take it unless I absolutely have to, but at one point I was taking it nightly just to get some relief. Now I'm down to maybe 1x a week which isn't as bad but trust me its better than the alternative, at least for myself!

Thanks ladies, that is the general consensus of what I was reading as well. I just think it's weird how after reception told me to check with the pharmacist, who ok'd it, the doctor said no.... Oh well.

I've always been told that Benadryl is fine, although I've never needed it while pregnant, so I've never taken it. I have a few friends that took Zyrtec through their whole pregnancies (recommended by their OB) as well, and one that did Flonase? (one of the nasal sprays for allergies) I think,.

My experience has been that benadryl and claritin are the preferred meds that my docs OK. I've had several experiences where the pharmacist said a (optional/pain mgt type, not antibiotics or serious medical conditions) med was ok and the doc said no. I just based if I took it or not on how bad I was feeling and avoided it as much as possible. I agree with trying to tough it out/home remedies etc; but spending prolonged amounts of time in pain/uncomfortable isn't good for you either.

Benydryl is fine to take, ive take it several times this pregnancy ( including yesterday). I was told Allegra is a no no, but claritin is ok, but im not a fan of claritin so i dont even bother.

Some doctors are very " no meds in pregnancy" some are " no meds in first trimester" ect you just have to do what you haveto do. Compulsive sneezing or coughing can cause you to stress about baby, and who wants to do that.

Benydrl does make me super drowsy and i dont like taking it, so i only take when my allergies are super bad and i cant stop sneezing, lol

I have been told by two obs to take benedyl and zyrtec. So, it does seem they vary. For what its worth I've taken benedryl for 3 pregnancies and had no issues with the babies at all. All are extremely healthy. Not even an ear infection in any! Id hate for you to get an uppper respritory infectin by having that mucus just sit there, ya know?